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EPIDEMIC ALOPECIA AREATA.
247
signs arising from the same cause are inequalities medical profession and pharmacy, and’ that the, in the radial pulses; pressure upon the left funds proceeding from the sale of the British bronchus; pupillary inequality; and, finally, even Pharmacopoeia should be devoted exclusively to,
dysphagia. A screen examination of a case presenting the latter symptom showed diversion of the bismuth stream to the right at the level of the auricle, whilst there was delay at the level of the cricoid cartilage. Attention is also directed to the fact that hypertrophy of the conus arteriosus of the right ventricle may simulate aneurysm. Distinction in all these cases may be arrived at, we suppose, with some certainty if all the factors of the case be taken into account, but X rays furnish, by their power of excluding aneurysm in suspect cases, a powerful final corroborative factor. EPIDEMIC ALOPECIA AREATA.
defraying the expenses connected with its production, including the investigations required in that connexion, is worthy of respect. But it is a suggestion that connotes some financial compensation for the General Medical Council. Of the papers real at the Chester meeting several are of direct interest to medical practitioners, notably those which refer to anaesthetic ether and the prescribing of strychnine in combination with alkalies. Although not recognised by the British Pharmacopoeia, anaesthetic ether is largely prepared from industrialmethylated spirit, the high price of that made from rectified spirit having of late years been the cause’ of the increased use of the former. As a matter of fact, methylated ether is in, use at all the large London hospitals, and a paper by the chief pharmacist at Guy’s Hospital, in which the results of the scrutiny of a, number of samples of methylated ether are’ stated, is.. therefore of especial interest,.while it is satis-factory to know that anaesthetists can continue to. use the cheaper product as a substitute for that. manufactured from rectified spirit, which is subject to a high Excise duty. It seems clear, from thecommunication on the incompatibility of solutions.-of strychnine with alkaline substances, that thelimits within which these may be dispensed without, fear of precipitation and consequent danger are by. no means so wide as those within which prepara-tions of nux vomica may, be mixed with alkalies. _ These communications serve to show how pharmacy can assist medicine., and other papers furnisht material which, indirectly at least, ,can be utilised., to advantage in medical practice..
BALDNESS in its ordinary form has not been held to be a definite infective condition. Certainly It no definite causative organism has been found. has been suggested that alopecia areata is not infective, but there is some difference of opinion amongst dermatologists, and an epidemic of alopecia areata has been described by Haldin Davis in the British Journal of, Dermatology (1914, xxvi., 207) which certainly suggests an infective origin in some cases. The epidemic broke out at an orphanage for girls, of whom there were 300, all under the age of 14. It was first noted in March, and in June there were 174 cases, amongst which were two foster-mothers and a servant-maid. The patches in the head resembled ringworm, but the author was emphatic that this was not the condition. The patches werenet entirely bald; there were some stumps of hair which were swollen at the free end and which did not come out easily. The hairs which were left were found to break with difficulty (unlike ringworm), and within the hair, near the seat of fracture, was an opaque substance which was doubtless concerned in the condition and which was due to some infection, the organism of which, however, could not be discovered. There were no scurf and no parasites in the cases. The condition was suggested by the writer to; be alopecia areata, The treatment but not of the ordinary type. adopted was vigorous and successful. The hair was washed with methylated spirit and soap, then an ointment was rubbed in consisting of betanaphthol and sulphur. Massage of the head was given. In the severer cases a blistering fluid was applied, and in eight cases the scalp was shaved. By October all the cases were cured. Inthefollowing March a similar outbreak occurred. There were 30 cases. Hairs from 15 of these cases failed to show evidence of ringworm. In six weeks this second epidemic was ended. THE BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE.
Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.V.O., F.R.S., will deliver thebiennial Huxley lecture at the opening of the winter session at Charing Cross Hospital Medical, School on Oct. lst. ____
AT a meeting ofthe council held on July 16th Sir John Tweedy, F.RC.S., late President of the Royal College of. Surgeons of. England, was elected. President of the Medical Defence Union, vice Dr. Edgar G. Barnes, retired.
Sir
St Clair.
Thomson has- been elected an Fellow of the American Laryngological Honorary Association. The American Laryngological Asso-ciation is a select body, the number of Active Fellows being strictly limited, and the list of.. Honorary Fellows very restricted, up to the last meeting Chiari, of Vienna, Massei, of Naples, Moure of Bordeaux; and Sir Felix Semon comprising the,.. list. ____
THE number and quality of the papers communiTHE Registrar of. the General Medical Council cated at the fifty-first annual meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference, which was held at has received a copy of a despatch from His., Chester this week, bear evidence of the continued Consul-General at Rio de Janeiro stating, usefulness of an organisation which has contributed the conditions under which persons holding largely to the advancement of pharmaceutical foreign diplomas are permitted to practise mediscience during the last half century. The Presi- cine, surgery, and dentistry within the Federal. dent’s address consisted mainly of an epitome of the District. This will be incorporated in the next work that has been devoted in recent years to the edition of the pamphlet published by the Council study of the chemistry of plants and their products, giving the conditions under- which persons qualified, and in view of the position held by Mr. E. H. Farr in their own country may practise abroad, and in,. among workers in this domain his suggestion that the meantime the Registrar will be pleased to show problems of materia medica should be considered the despatch to anyone who calls at the Council. by a pharmaceutical committee representing the office, 299., Oxford-street, London, W,.
Majesty’s
signs arising from the same cause are inequalities medical profession and pharmacy, and’ that the, in the radial pulses; pressure upon the left funds proceeding from the sale of the British bronchus; pupillary inequality; and, finally, even Pharmacopoeia should be devoted exclusively to,
dysphagia. A screen examination of a case presenting the latter symptom showed diversion of the bismuth stream to the right at the level of the auricle, whilst there was delay at the level of the cricoid cartilage. Attention is also directed to the fact that hypertrophy of the conus arteriosus of the right ventricle may simulate aneurysm. Distinction in all these cases may be arrived at, we suppose, with some certainty if all the factors of the case be taken into account, but X rays furnish, by their power of excluding aneurysm in suspect cases, a powerful final corroborative factor. EPIDEMIC ALOPECIA AREATA.
defraying the expenses connected with its production, including the investigations required in that connexion, is worthy of respect. But it is a suggestion that connotes some financial compensation for the General Medical Council. Of the papers real at the Chester meeting several are of direct interest to medical practitioners, notably those which refer to anaesthetic ether and the prescribing of strychnine in combination with alkalies. Although not recognised by the British Pharmacopoeia, anaesthetic ether is largely prepared from industrialmethylated spirit, the high price of that made from rectified spirit having of late years been the cause’ of the increased use of the former. As a matter of fact, methylated ether is in, use at all the large London hospitals, and a paper by the chief pharmacist at Guy’s Hospital, in which the results of the scrutiny of a, number of samples of methylated ether are’ stated, is.. therefore of especial interest,.while it is satis-factory to know that anaesthetists can continue to. use the cheaper product as a substitute for that. manufactured from rectified spirit, which is subject to a high Excise duty. It seems clear, from thecommunication on the incompatibility of solutions.-of strychnine with alkaline substances, that thelimits within which these may be dispensed without, fear of precipitation and consequent danger are by. no means so wide as those within which prepara-tions of nux vomica may, be mixed with alkalies. _ These communications serve to show how pharmacy can assist medicine., and other papers furnisht material which, indirectly at least, ,can be utilised., to advantage in medical practice..
BALDNESS in its ordinary form has not been held to be a definite infective condition. Certainly It no definite causative organism has been found. has been suggested that alopecia areata is not infective, but there is some difference of opinion amongst dermatologists, and an epidemic of alopecia areata has been described by Haldin Davis in the British Journal of, Dermatology (1914, xxvi., 207) which certainly suggests an infective origin in some cases. The epidemic broke out at an orphanage for girls, of whom there were 300, all under the age of 14. It was first noted in March, and in June there were 174 cases, amongst which were two foster-mothers and a servant-maid. The patches in the head resembled ringworm, but the author was emphatic that this was not the condition. The patches werenet entirely bald; there were some stumps of hair which were swollen at the free end and which did not come out easily. The hairs which were left were found to break with difficulty (unlike ringworm), and within the hair, near the seat of fracture, was an opaque substance which was doubtless concerned in the condition and which was due to some infection, the organism of which, however, could not be discovered. There were no scurf and no parasites in the cases. The condition was suggested by the writer to; be alopecia areata, The treatment but not of the ordinary type. adopted was vigorous and successful. The hair was washed with methylated spirit and soap, then an ointment was rubbed in consisting of betanaphthol and sulphur. Massage of the head was given. In the severer cases a blistering fluid was applied, and in eight cases the scalp was shaved. By October all the cases were cured. Inthefollowing March a similar outbreak occurred. There were 30 cases. Hairs from 15 of these cases failed to show evidence of ringworm. In six weeks this second epidemic was ended. THE BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE.
Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.V.O., F.R.S., will deliver thebiennial Huxley lecture at the opening of the winter session at Charing Cross Hospital Medical, School on Oct. lst. ____
AT a meeting ofthe council held on July 16th Sir John Tweedy, F.RC.S., late President of the Royal College of. Surgeons of. England, was elected. President of the Medical Defence Union, vice Dr. Edgar G. Barnes, retired.
Sir
St Clair.
Thomson has- been elected an Fellow of the American Laryngological Honorary Association. The American Laryngological Asso-ciation is a select body, the number of Active Fellows being strictly limited, and the list of.. Honorary Fellows very restricted, up to the last meeting Chiari, of Vienna, Massei, of Naples, Moure of Bordeaux; and Sir Felix Semon comprising the,.. list. ____
THE number and quality of the papers communiTHE Registrar of. the General Medical Council cated at the fifty-first annual meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference, which was held at has received a copy of a despatch from His., Chester this week, bear evidence of the continued Consul-General at Rio de Janeiro stating, usefulness of an organisation which has contributed the conditions under which persons holding largely to the advancement of pharmaceutical foreign diplomas are permitted to practise mediscience during the last half century. The Presi- cine, surgery, and dentistry within the Federal. dent’s address consisted mainly of an epitome of the District. This will be incorporated in the next work that has been devoted in recent years to the edition of the pamphlet published by the Council study of the chemistry of plants and their products, giving the conditions under- which persons qualified, and in view of the position held by Mr. E. H. Farr in their own country may practise abroad, and in,. among workers in this domain his suggestion that the meantime the Registrar will be pleased to show problems of materia medica should be considered the despatch to anyone who calls at the Council. by a pharmaceutical committee representing the office, 299., Oxford-street, London, W,.
Majesty’s